I was out of the office most of the day doing my usual Friday “Diligencias”. Hna. Johnson had a trouble free day until 5 minutes before we left the office. She received an e-mail from SLC telling her that all of the departing missionaries that leave in December must have their travel arrangements in place today! Well, that wasn’t going to happen so now she can have fun things to work on Monday when we come back to work.
SLC wants the travel plans done this early because of the demand for tickets around Christmas. It’s a very busy month for the airlines and seats on airliners are snatched up very quickly. Monday Hna. Johnson will be phoning each of the missionaries to find out what airport they will be returning to. These plans are sometimes complicated by parents that may want to come to the DR to pick up their missionary. The church’s mission travel department is very good at coordinating and adjusting to everyone’s plans and needs, especially the parents of missionaries coming to pick up their missionary.
Tonight we were invited to dinner at the Almonte’s home with four other senior couples. The Almonte’s laid out a huge spread of sea food and side dishes. Some of the entrees I’ve never eaten before but very good. The whole meal was very Dominican and delicious.
Hna. Jones brought cake made from scratch for dessert. It had homemade toffee crumbles on top! Mmm Goood. Hna. Johnson brought the flowers for the table.
Before dinner we sat in a circle talking for at least an hour. It was very enjoyable especially because even the non Spanish speakers did their best to contribute to the conversation in Spanish so the Almonte’s could understand everything.
I learned several things about Pres. & Hna. Almonte tonight. For example all this week has been filled with large Zone conferences in the morning. Usually these meetings are followed by personal interviews with every missionary in the Zone. This is a huge task that takes the rest of the day and sometimes into the evening. What I didn’t know is the many time the Pres. puts off all of the interviews to a later date and goes out on “Intercambios” (Exchanges) with some of the Elders and Hna’s too. It is always a surprised to the companionship but Pres. Almonte goes with on Elder and Hna. Almonte goes with the other. They do whatever the companionship had planned for that time. They do contacting and even teach lessons at the home of investigators they already have appoints with.
Pres. Almonte says he really enjoys doing “Intercambios”. He and Hna. Almonte know all of the discussions and enjoy these opportunities to teach investigators. Pres. Almonte said that he didn’t go on a mission when he was nineteen, he hadn’t even heard of the church yet. This is his mission and he takes every opportunity to teach he can. He likes to hear back from the Missionaries about the people they contacted and taught to follow their progress toward baptism.
Being a mission Pres. is a huge job. Every time I learn something more about Pres. Almonte I admire him even more. The time and effort he puts into his mission is phenomenal. I really don’t know how he does it. Well, I guess I really do know how he does it. He has the help of the Lord. He is inspired and guided by the Holy Spirit. He is a spiritual giant and a great Mission President.
After the dinner we all listened to Hna. Mehr sing accompanied by Hna. Jones on the piano. This too was a treasured moment to remember. We got to listen to a Tabernacle choir member sing as she was accompanied by a concert pianist! WOW! Then we all got to join in the fun and we sang a half dozen or so hymns.
The evening was capped off with a game Hna. Almonte taught us. Wouldn’t you know it, Hna. Johnson ended up winning the game. At the end, all of us, the losers, had to give Hna. Almonte some personal item, then Hna. Johnson gave us tasks to perform to earn our items back. Hna. Johnson did a great job and came up with some very creative ideas. It was a lot of fun.
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